Equipment for producing compacted wafers from plants and stalks

A plant-compacting device adapted for attachment to a movable agricultural plant-cutting or stalk-uprooting implement, for compacting cut or uprooted plant parts into generally cylindrical rope- or sausage-shape compacted plant material, and for cutting said compacted plant material into disc-shaped wafers, the plant-compacting device having a front area for receiving said cut or uprooted plant parts, and a rear area for delivering said wafers, the plant-compacting device further comprising:

• frame means;
• at least three elongated rollers mounted on said frame means adjacent or at said front area of the plant-compacting device, each roller having a longitudinal axis, said rollers being positioned with their longitudinal axes generally parallel to the direction of movement of said plant-cutting or stalk-uprooting implement, and a central space being defined between said rollers, said central space defining the intended diameter of said compacted plant material;
• each of said rollers comprising:
• a substantially cylindrical rear portion;
• a substantially frusto-conical front portion, said front portion having a broad-threaded screw attached to its substantially conical outer surface, the outer diameter of said screw being substantially commensurate with the diameter of said rear portion;
• a front axle extending from said front portion;
• and
• a rear axle extending from said rear portion;
• said front and rear axles being coupled to said frame by means of respective bearings so that said rollers are rotatably mounted by their respective axles;
• means for rotating said at least three rollers in the same direction of rotation;
• said cut or uprooted plant parts being received at the front area of said plant-compacting device and being fed into said central space between said rollers;
• elastic means for urging said rollers towards said central space, so as to exert pressure on cut or uprooted plant parts which are guided into said central space between said rollers to be compacted into said rope- or sausage-shape compacted plant material;
• and
• cutting means arranged at the rear of said rollers for cutting said compacted plant material into wafers of a predetermined length.